Bench seats are commonly found in public places such as atriums, the waiting spaces of airports and train stations and in some food service establishments. A bench seat with individual chair units typically includes a line of individual seat sections. Typically one person sits on each seat section. Associated with each seat section is a back section, the back section provides back support for the individual sitting in the chair unit. While these bench seats are useful for providing individuals places to sit, they are lack other functionality. If a person is sitting next to an empty chair unit, he/she may try using the empty seat section as a support surface. There are typically two problems with this. First, the seat section is typically not horizontally aligned. This makes it difficult to put certain objects on the seat section without running risk of having those objects fall to the floor. Secondly, the vacant seat section is below the natural "lap height". Consequently, the person putting things on and lifting things from the seat section typically has to engage in slightly unusual and ergonomically discomforting body motions.
There have been some bench seats, typically those used in commuter rail cars, that allow the orientation of their back sections to be reversed. This does allow individuals to control the direction they face when seated. However, these seats do nothing to enhance the utility of any adjacent empty seat section as a support surface.